Fixing the Forcing Notrump (and other useful things) by Perry Khakhar 1NT Forcing: 1NT forcing is the garbage bucket of all bids. It is such a stupid, non-descriptive and obtuse treatment that no one would play it, if it were not absolutely necessary for constructive bidding! We feel that we gain a lot more by being able to signal a Game Force with a 2/1 bid and for that reason alone, it is worth it! But there must be ways to fix the Forcing NT and the subsequent bids. Please note that what follows are tools for the Bridge Player’s utilization, not lessons in Bridge philosophy. Let’s start by breaking down the type of hands that would utilize this convention. Firstly, it is only used after a 1 of a Major opening. So, the first limitation is that the Opener has a 5+ card suit in the Major bid, and his hand is usually 11 - 21 points. As for the 20 - 21 area of the range, many of these hands will be put in to either 2NT (balanced hands) or upgraded to 2♣ (unbalanced hands). Essentially, that leaves an exceptional 11 to a normal 19 as the range described by 1 of a Major opener. These Opener’s hands can be broken down into 3 categories, definable by points and Losing Trick criteria, as follows: 1. Minimum Hands: 11 - 15 points, >= 7 LTC. It is a hand that has roughly 1/3 of the total values in the deck. The bid is made in the hope that if Partner also has a similar size hand, we may make a Game and earn Game bonus. 2. Intermediate Hands: 15 - 17 points, 5 or 6 LTC. It is a hand that has enough values that if Partner holds his normal ¼ share of the values in the deck, a Game is very likely. All of these hands have either a 6+ card Major or a side 5 card suit. They are described by jumping to the 3 level. The hands in the Intermediate point range without 5/5 or better shape usually cannot meet the LTC requirement and therefore are bid in the same manner as the minimum hands until the Responder declares possession of Invitational values. Then the appropriate Game can be bid. Example: You hold AKxxx Kx AJxxx x; 15 points and 5 LTC. You would bid as follows (we are going to devise different methods for the Strong hands). 1♠ 1NT 3♦ 3. Strong Hands: 18 - 21 points, 4 or 5 LTC. It is the hand that can make a game opposite a Partner that barely eked out a response. Now that we have defined the Opener’s hand, let’s examine what a Forcing NT Responder’s hand looks like. Its characteristics are: 1. Apparent misfit for the Major (except for the possible 3 card Limit Raise). 2. Enough to respond but less than 2/1 values. Usually can’t make Game if partner has a Minimum opener. Slam is highly unlikely but not totally out of the realm of possibilities. Page 1 of 16 So, 6 - 11 points and most likely a misfit! There are 2 types of hands that need special handling: 1. Constructive hands with 9 - 11 points that could possibly make Game opposite an Intermediate range Opener (and very few exceptional Minimums). This includes the one fitting hand (3 cards LR). 2. The hand that is best played in a partial in the Responder’s suit. A suit that he hasn’t had a chance to show as yet, because 2/1 would show a better hand. Following is an attempt to better handle these various combinations. The Summary of the 3 techniques used in these methods is at the end of this article. You should probably look at those techniques before continuing farther. Major suit Openers 1♠ and 1♥ have traditionally been dumped in to the same bucket by the system designers. But in fact, they each have significant characteristic differences. It is crucial to address each one separately. It is also highly desirable to handle them in somewhat similar manners for the sake of memory! The following tries to cater to all of those limitations. 1♠ Openers: After the Forcing NT, if the Opener has a very descriptive hand he will show it as quickly as possible. 1. An Intermediate Opener with a 5 card side suit will jump to 3 of the side suit, as shown in the Example hand shown above. 2. An Intermediate hand with 6+ ♠ will jump to 3♠. (AQJxxx xx KQx Ax). 16 points, 5 LTC. 3. A Strong 5332 shaped hand will bid 3NT, directly. Responder may bid 2-under Transfers over 3NT when appropriate. The in-between step will be the super- accept and Key Card asking, except that 4NT will always be to play even if it is an in-between step. Example: AKJxx KQx AX Qxx. 1♠ 1NT 3NT ? 4♣ is transfer to 4♥. 4♦ is a transfer to 4♠. 4♥ is a transfer to 5♣. 4♠ is transfer to 5♦. Transfers to the minors are somewhat constructive. If the Responder holds x Jxxx xx AKJxxx and tries to transfer to ♣, he is happy when partner super accepts by bidding 4♠. As you can see, 6♣ is a lay down. x xxxx Jx KJxxxx would simply bid 5♣. xx J10xxx x KJxxx would bid 4♦ transferring to ♠. 4. Special Treatment: A Strong hand with 4+ card ♦ suit will now raise 1NT to 2NT. (More on the rest of the Strong ♦ side-suit sequences later). Example: KQJxx Ax AJxx Ax Page 2 of 16 1♠ 1NT 2NT* ? More to follow (Page 5 if you can’t wait). 5. A hand that would have opened 4♠, if it weren’t for that pesky side card can now bid 4♠. Example: KQJxxxx Ax xxx x 6. All of the Minimum and Intermediate hands that do contain 4+ cards in a Red suit will bid 2 of that suit. Example: KQ10xx Axxx x Kxx 1♠ 1NT 2♥ ? 7. Special Treatment: All other hands will relay to 2♦ by bidding 2♣. Example: KQ10xx Kxx xx Axx 1♠ 1NT 2♣*(Relay) 2♦*(Relay Accepted) If the Responder accepts the relay, the Opener will bid 2 of the appropriate Major as described below, unless he has something quite special to show. The relay breaks by the Responder are at least as important as the relay accepts are. Relay breaks are done with the following type of hands (note that they are mostly non- invitational hands): 1. Non-invitational hand that has a 6+ card minor suit. xx Kxx xx KJxxxx 1♠ 1NT 2♣*(Relay) 3♣*(Relay not Accepted) 2. Non-invitational hand with 6+ card ♥ suit. x KQ10xxx Jx xxx 1♠ 1NT 2♣*(Relay) 2♥*(Relay not Accepted) 3. 3 cards Constructive Raise (9 - 11). Qxx Ax Kxxxx xxx 1♠ 1NT 2♣*(Relay) 2♠*(Relay not Accepted) 4. Non-invitational hand with 5 - 5 in the minors (bid 2NT). x xx K109xx QJ10xx 1♠ 1NT 2♣*(Relay) 2NT*(Relay not Accepted) Page 3 of 16 Minimum (and Intermediate) 1♠ Openers: Intermediate range (15 - 17) hands of 5332, 5431, 5422 shape are treated exactly the same as the minimum range (11 - 14) hands, and will rely on the Responder to show the extras (when he has them) first before searching for a Game. Summary: Opener Responder bid bid bid bid bid bid st nd rd st nd rd 2 3 1 2 3 1 Notes Description 1♠ 1NT 2♠ Non relay Minimum hand, 6+ ♠, no side suit. (AKJxxx Ax xxx sequence xx) 2♦ Non relay 4+ card side suit (KQxxx AQx AJxx x) or (AJxxx sequences 2♥ AQxx xx xx). As usual, 2♠ by the Responder is preference, 3♠ is 3 card LR. 2NT Alert! Agrees the second suit in theory, and is a Game Try. Intermediate openers should shape out if possible. (xx KJxxx Qx Axxx) *Often, there may not be a ♦ fit. Relay 2♣ Relay Relay to 2♦ (AJxxx Axx Kxx xx). (Unless there is a Request special case for a Relay Break). 3♣/♦ relay break Non-invitational misfit hand with 6+ cards. (x Kxx (weak) KJxxxx xxx) 2NT relay break Non-invitational misfit hand with 5 - 5 in the minors. (weak) (x xx Q109xx KJ10xx) 2♠ relay break 3 card Constructive Raise (9 - 11). Kokish Two-way NB: Inv. Game Tries available over this. (Q10x Kx AJxxx xxx) 2♥ relay break Non-invitational misfit hand with 6+ ♥. (x KJxxxx (weak) Qxx xxx). After Relay Accept 2♦ relay accept Relay accepted. Denies any of the relay break type of hands above. 2♥ 2♠ After relay Minimum Opener with only 3 card ♥ suit. (AJxxx accept P (like BART) Qxx Ax Kxx). Over this 2♥ bid, the Responder’s 3♥ 3♥ is General Game Try, agreeing ♥. Example: With (x AKxxx QJxxx xx) Responder might bid: (1♠ - 1NT - 2♣* - 2♦* - 2♥* - 3♥*) 2♠ P After relay Minimum Opener without 3 ♥. (AJxxx Kx Axx Qxx) accept 3♣ after 2♥/♠ by Invitational hand with a 5+ ♣ or 6+ ♦ or 6+ ♥ suit Opener 3♦ (only 5+ over 2♥). For example, after 2♠ by the 3♥ Opener (x xxxx AJx AJxxx) or (x KQJxxx Axxx xx). 2NT after 2♥/♠ by Invitational hand. E.g. after 2♥ by the Opener Opener showing 3 ♥ (x KJxx Kxxx QJ10xx) Page 4 of 16 ♠♥♦♣ Strong 1♠ Openers: 14 possible hand types (including 2 Strong hands w/ 6 card ♠ suit) 5341 2NT then 3♥ over the 3♣ query. (2NT directly over 1NT always shows ♦ side suit). AKJxx Axx AQxx x 1♠ 1NT 2NT*(♦ suit) 3♣*(Query) 3♥*(♥ fragment) 5143 2NT then 3♠ over the 3♣ query.